Inflation and the Fall of the Roman Empire

[Meanderer]

Inflation and the Fall of the Roman Empire

"Monetary, fiscal, military, political, and economic issues are all very much intertwined. And they are all so intertwined because any state normally seeks to monopolize the supply of money within its own territory".


"Monetary policy therefore always serves, even if it serves badly, the perceived needs of the rulers of the state. If it also happens to enhance the prosperity and progress of the masses of the people, that is a secondary benefit; but its first aim is to serve the needs of the rulers, not the ruled. This point is central, I believe, to an understanding of the course of monetary policy in the late Roman Empire".

 

[Don M.]

Actually, there are many things that led to the fall of the Roman Empire....and it seems that our government is making many of the same mistakes.

 

[Lara]

Delete

 

[Warrigal]

One factor that I read about is that they exploited all of the obtainable sources of metals such as copper from all sources throughout the empire. They were unable to pump water from deep mines and the surface deposits were all gone. This contributed to the financial woes because metals were needed for the military and for coins etc.

Much later, after the invention of the steam beam engine the deep deposits of Cornwall and other places were economically viable once again.